KatherineIngwersen

Ingwersen, Katherine (Katie) Fairchild 50, died at her home in Alexandria, VA, on December 29 after living with cancer for six years. Katie taught English and Journalism at Fairfax County Public Schools. She strived to provide better opportunities for her students first at Annandale High School, where she began teaching in 1999, and most recently at Falls Church High School. Through her work, she secured support for Falls Church High School journalism education from the George Washington University Prime Movers Media Program, pairing professional journalists with high school journalism students. In addition, she was instrumental in bringing the Cappies, a national student theater review program, to Annandale High School. To incorporate innovative approaches to teaching, Katie spent her summers studying, including attending the Exeter Humanities Institute, the Northern Virginia Writing Project, and the Dickens Project at the University of California Santa Cruz. Katie earned board certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in 2005, and regularly assisted candidates from local schools for certification by the board, including applicants from T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, VA, which both her daughters attended. Katie mentored student teachers from George Washington University and Korea University. A lifelong volunteer, Katie served as an advisory board member for Chicago vocational training program Project Skill, was co-president of the Charles Barrett PTA in Alexandria, and assisted in her daughters' elementary school classrooms. Katie was a member of the Fairfax Education Association, the Journalism Education Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Katie was born in Evanston, IL, and raised in Winnetka, IL. She graduated from New Trier (West) High School in Northfield, IL, where she was active in theater and track. She earned a bachelor's degree in English from Grinnell College, a master's degree in public administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and completed her teacher licensure at Marymount University in Arlington, VA. Katie was an avid reader and writer who loved to travel with her family. A teaching colleague wrote that "her warm spirit, generosity, and passion for literature endeared her to all of us...I think Katie intuitively knew that what matters to students is that they feel loved- and that came naturally for her." Katie is survived by her husband of 26 years, Fred Underwood; daughters, Madeline and Amelia; parents, Gordon and Mary Lou Ingwersen; and sisters, Siri Holmes and Julie Ingwersen.